Gameplay Announcement: Weapon Customization and Abilities news - Outland 17:Void of Liberty

Welcome back to another update for Outland 17:Void Of Liberty for the Square Enix Collective! Thank you guys for the awesome questions and comments you have been throwing at us. Keep them coming!

Those on our mailing list got an early peek at today's news, so make sure to sign up for more early info! Our last update gave you guys and gals a little view into the universe of Outland 17. This update will bring you up to speed on two of our core gameplay values, and how they tie into the exciting story of your revolution through Outland 17: Void Of Liberty.

As a team we wanted to build a game that hardcore fans of the tactical RPG genre would love, but still make the game accessible to those newcomers. A guiding core for our team is that a great game isn’t great if the gameplay isn’t intuitive for the novice, but challenging for the seasoned veteran.

So sit down, buckle up, and hold onto your hats; because this is going to be a big one!

The core game design and story merge into an unholy yet glorified communion that are the tactical squads and the individual characters they're built upon.

During your revolution your squad members get experience and level up like traditional RPG’s. Each squad member has a unique set of abilities (we call a Kit) and a unique back story.

Where we start walking off the beaten path is the leveling up process. Your teams “Kit” doesn’t just level up, you need to use that characters abilities if you want them to increase in skill.

In addition to leveling up your Kit, your squad's character sometimes unlocks the opportunity to have an additional skill or ability. This is generated partly at random and partly due to your playstyle. Each time this option appears you will need to choose wisely as you may not get access to that ability again.

And one more bit for you: your team collects experience as a group, but you decide if you want the team to level up evenly, or if you want to focus on a single character. The choice is yours.

After you finish the game, you’ll have the option of selecting a New Game+, where you can continue to grow your squad’s abilities. This portion of the game is for the hardcore fans of the genre.

You’ve experienced the story and the fundamentals of gameplay, but now you can go deeper still into universe of Outland 17. Dare to put your strategies to the test? Can you face the challenge of permadeath? Did you unlock a new character, and now you want to see how they change the path of your revolution? The more you play, the more there is to discover in the expanding universe of Outland 17.

Our design team is made of up a bunch of guys and girlfriends that are tired of playing games that tell them how to play. If you have noticed, we are big on giving the player as many options to play as possible. Hence we included weapon customization

All squad members can use any weapon, but each member starts out with a weapon which compliments their beginning abilities. Weapons will be mostly projectile based, but as the story progresses, so does the technology. You’ll move up to other, more powerful weapons, like laser muskets!

As a squad member uses a type of gun, he becomes more adept at using it, resulting in special perks and bonuses for that weapon type. However, hardcore fans beware. As many of those foolish enough to have purchased a Copy of Windows before consumer reviews can tell you, newer isn’t always better.

At the start of the game, there are two ways to customize your weapons. The first is through direct augmentation of the weapon itself. Each weapon will accept one mod.

Possibilities range from a scope, which increases your critical hit damage, to an accelerating muzzle coil, which guarantees a critical hit every fifth shot. Mods to weapons are permanent, so make sure you pick the one you want!

The second way to customize your weapons is with different types of ammunition. Ammo loadouts will be accessible at the beginning of every mission. Ammo types can have a wide variety of different effects, damage, and results, so try them all!

Now let’s give you an example of how you can combine these to have different squad specializations.

Let’s say you have one squad member who just leveled up and you add an ability which passively increases his accuracy, making him more lethal from farther away. You can then compliment that ability with a mod for his sniper rifle that receives a double damage boost on every fourth successful hit!

Imagine that you also have a squad member who can unlock a special ability to do critical damage on demand if he gets one hundred critical hits. You can then mod your weapon to have a higher critical hit rate to work towards that ability!

Congratulations, you made it! This was a REALLY big update and we hope we got you even more excited about your approaching revolution. We can’t wait to see what questions and comments you’ll leave for us and you can expect direct responses and future updates to them.

Thanks for your time and if you like our project, please go vote for us at the Square Enix Collective! You can also take our poll there and tell us what platform you want to see it released on!